Kaffir Boy - the Blessing of Education and the Stupidity of Ignoring It - a Speech

A Speech

based on a line from

“Kaffir Boy”

by Mark Mathabane

The Blessing of Education and the Stupidity of Ignoring It

by flame

“He shunned school and, instead, grew up to live by the knife. And the same knife he lived by ended his life.”

What proportion of the Philippines’ young people today can be found in schools? Sixty in a hundred? Fifty in a hundred? And out of that proportion, how many do you think are dedicated to their studies? Thirty? Twenty? Ten? Let us take a little glimpse of reality.

One statistics a few years ago stated that for every one hundred Filipino children born, only seventy-five go to pre-school, where sixty to sixty-five continue on to elementary. Barely forty students enter high school, and not more than twenty-five will plant their feet in the gates of colleges and universities. Dramatically, out of these twenty-five students, only ten will be likely to graduate, and believe it or not, only one or two will be able to pursue a master’s degree. That was a few years ago. By now, it could have gotten worse. Ten professionals out of one hundred children born. What about the other ninety? Where do they go after a few years of a blur life in school? Well, God knows where. Sometimes they prosper, butut more often, they perish. The knife, the gun, the street, the harmful drugs and vices, the very road they embraced instead of choosing the promise of education, only led them to the destruction of their own lives.

Certainly, not all people are expected to live behind desks, holding gold pointed pens, and receiving a fortune worth of money for each signature they render. That would destroy the balance. Some people have to be farmers, tailors, bakers, to provide the basic needs of people in higher positions. In return, these higher people will serve as lawyers, teachers, doctors, of people in farms, factories, and bakeries. That’s what I’m talking about when I say “balance”. But in this balance, where should we put the robbers, cheaters,...